The Bergschrund set to open in Ballard this Friday

Because liquor laws are so frequently governed by bizarre pretzel logic, we can’t actually declare this new Ballard drinking establishment to be what it actually is. Instead of saying exactly what it really is, I must tell you it is something else. So here it goes. The Bergschrund is a new beer-focused bar in Ballard that will serve, almost exclusively, beers from NW Peaks Brewery. (Nudge- nudge, wink-wink, say no more.) The plan is to open this Friday, December 19th. Follow The Bergschrund on Facebook to be certain, as final approval is pending.

“It appears as of yesterday that we will finally get our final permit approved on Thursday, so we are planning to open the Friday,” says Kevin Klein, the owner/brewer at NW Peaks Brewery, who coincidentally will also operate The Bergschrund. “For our opening weekend, and beyond, we will be featuring 100-percent NW Peaks beers. We will be rotating sour, barrel aged, and one-off beers, alongside NW Peaks’ standard selection and seasonals. We will also have at least one cask per day for the first weekend, most likely the Snowfield Winter infused with a different ingredient in each cask.”

Located in the former home of the 2-Bit Saloon, just a block away from NW Peaks Brewery, The Bergschrund will be a family friendly establishment serving beer, wine and eventually cocktails. As for food, it will offer pizza and there will also be food trucks parked outside.

According to Kevin, “After we blow through some of our special kegs of one-offs, sours, and barrel-aged beers, we will be featuring a cider handle and a guest tap for unique Washington beers.”

The 2-Bit Saloon was a dive bar and punk rock music venue, but don’t let that scare you away. “We have spent a lot of time and sweat just trying to clean things up and update the ambiance,” says Kevin. “While the overall structure and layout hasn’t changed except for a few things, we have updated nearly all the fixtures, walls, and bathrooms.”

In other, unrelated news, NW Peaks Brewery will close its Base Camp tasting room on Friday, December 19th. “It will be sad to close to the public at the modest and no frills location, but we are planning to move forward to better things,” says Kevin Klein. “By eliminating consumer traffic through that area we can be more more efficient with our time, expand production slightly, and more comfortably plan for expansion. The overall goal is to increase production and give our patrons a better experience. In all plans, we will be including a serving area so we can re-open a taproom at the brewery site.”

We will keep you posted as expansion plans at NW Peaks brewing come together.